Blank tests defy core

By Mary Cirincione, Medill News Service

Published 10:32 pm, Sunday, May 24, 2015

Washington, D.C.

New York is not alone on the educational battleground. Parents, teachers, unions and politicians can't seem to find common ground over what's best for kids, as states across the country struggle to implement Common Core standards and the tests that go with them.

The battle has led some parents to engage in protest — by opting their kids out of testing. Some of those parents are also teachers.

According to advocacy group United to Counter the Core, almost 200,000 New York students refused the English language arts tests in April, with just 76 percent of districts reporting. The state Education Department enlisted the help of regional BOCES offices to assemble opt-out numbers for grades 3-8.

Opt-outs are "a significant phenomenon within New York," said Richard Longhurst, executive administrator for New York Parent-Teacher Association. "Our membership is really divided, and represents both camps ... (but) we urge parents to make their own decisions based on what they believe is best for their child."

Heidi May, head of media relations for the National PTA, said her organization does not take a position on opt-outs, but "believes that assessments provide valuable information to parents, teachers and school leaders about the growth and achievement of their students."

Developed by state school chiefs and governors, the 2010 Common Core State Standards Initiative is not a federally mandated program, although the Obama administration has offered heavy financial incentives to encourage participation. It is intended to standardize English and math education for students in grades K-12 nationwide, that hasn't been the outcome. Testing looks different from state to state — some adopted standards verbatim, others added their own twists and some refused.

Thirty states incorporate test scores into teacher evaluations, but only a few weigh scores as heavily as Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to see in New York. His "education overhaul" ties awards, tenure and dismissals to scores. He asked the state Education Department to count scores for half of a teacher's assessment.

SED's blueprint is due at the end of June, and the current plan calls for districts to put them in place by November. Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch has said she would like a one-year extension for districts that might face hardship from that timetable.

The New York PTA also asked for a delay, petitioning the state Legislature to separate funding from standards adoption and postpone implementation of new teacher evaluation programs until September 2016.

"We need a timeout," Longhurst said. "We're in too big a rush to get something too big in place."

But no such timeout has been granted, although the heightened emphasis on test scores continues to generate concern among parents and teachers.

Jessica Wilk is one such concerned parent and teacher: "It's one test that you're using to grade me on a year's worth of teaching. How is that fair?"

A fifth-grade teacher at Watson Williams Elementary in Utica, Wilk said she already knew the tests' subject matter, phrasing and vocabulary were developmentally inappropriate, but Cuomo's call to boost scores from 20 to 50 percent of evaluations raised the stakes.

"That was the clincher for me," said Wilk, a teacher for eight years. "Judge me based on my students' growth in my classroom ... on my principal's observations. Come and see the projects we do. Grade me by a test in September ... a midterm in January, a final in June."

She and her husband opted their 10-year-old daughter out of this year's exams, but only he signed the letter: "I was afraid as a district employee to have my name on it," Jessica Wilk said. "I was afraid of retaliation."

"I completely, wholeheartedly agree that teachers should get evaluated ... and that students should be tested. But this is not the way," she said.

Pennsylvania adopted the Common Core in 2010, only to repeal it in 2014 and institute a revised program known as the Pennsylvania Core, which includes additional requirements like science testing.

Arnold-Schwartz said her three daughters – ages 12, 14 and 16 – understand the impact these new standards are having on their education, although only her sixth grader is eligible for state testing. Explaining the debate to her 12-year-old wasn't necessary, she said: "She was aware of how much instructional time was lost (and) the stress of the test. Opting out made sense to her."

But opting out in Pennsylvania is an elaborate process, and the only acceptable reason for test refusal is a religious one.

Arnold-Schwartz, who has been teaching since 1994, said that her own students will spend 10 days taking state tests this year. Their results will make up 15 percent of her evaluation. Another 15 percent will come from how well the overall student population does at her school – something she can't control.

The tests aren't written so students can show what they've learned, she said, because "every single multiple choice answer is a plausible answer."

"Let's say there's a gifted student who's an out-of-the-box thinker, they might choose D. But test designers chose B, and so (the student is) wrong," Arnold-Schwartz said. "The student is thinking in a way that's valued by society, but not valued by standardized tests."

Just like any other parent, Arnold-Schwartz is trusting schools with her kids' well-being: "I worry that there may be some well-intentioned people in positions of power who don't really understand the impact this is having on human beings."

And that impact is far from insignificant, according to longtime educator Matt Jablonski, an American history teacher at Elyria High School in Ohio. After what happened last year to his now 11-year-old son, Jablonski said, the opt-out decision was a no-brainer.

Following "wave after wave" of practice tests, his son was complaining of "headaches, blurry vision, dizziness." Doctors couldn't find a cause. The symptoms vanished after he took the state math and reading tests.

Mitchell Robinson believes the Michigan tests are employed in a way that is "highly focused" on identifying ineffective teachers. "We didn't want our kids to be used like that," he said.

This is the first year that Robinson, who chairs the Music Education Department at Michigan State University, will opt his 12-year-old son out of testing. "We finally came to our senses and realized it's not an appropriate use of standardized tests."

Michigan law requires that half of a teacher's evaluation come from testing data related to student growth. A bill before the state legislature would reduce that to 40 percent.

A former high school music teacher in Oswego County, Robinson said he pays attention to what's going on in New York, noting, "I don't know if there's quite as much of a groundswell yet in Michigan, but it's building."

Kentucky doesn't tie test scores to teacher evaluations.

"Teachers feel supported in their use of Core standards here," said Diana Crescitelli, who works prepares teens in 10 counties for college. "We don't use the test to bludgeon them."

Her youngest daughter, 13, will test in May for five straight days. And Crescitelli won't be opting her out.

She stands by the new core standards. Even though they might seem scary to parents because they're different, Crescitelli said, they're great for teaching kids concepts.

"I taught in a non-core state before I came to Kentucky," she said, "and it's night and day."

Mary Cirincione is a graduate student at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. @mccirincione